Chords for MORTEN LAURIDSEN — How He Wrote "Dirait-on"

_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ [C#] _
_ _ [D#] _ _ _ [C#] _ _ _
_ _ [F#] _ _ _ _ _
[C#] I think it'd be helpful to perhaps demonstrate on how a piece is put together by using Deretone
because it's become such a well-known piece.
_ I was designed as a piece that had never been composed, always been there.
I designed this piece in the style of a French folk song.
And for that, I wanted to use a chord that was very French.
And I went to the music of Ravel and Debussy for a single sonority from which to gather
my materials for a melody and for the harmony and for the overall piece.
And this is a chord that's very much a favorite of theirs.
_ _ [Fm] I chose Ravel and Debussy because we're talking about early 20th century French music.
And this is when this French poem was written, in 1924.
[C#] _ This particular chord, _ _ which is simply a major triad with an added second, went on to provide
all the [D#m] material I needed for the composition of Deretone. _ _
[Fm] I decided that the piece would be accompanied by something that would sound like a guitar.
And so I took that chord and made it into this kind of passage for a guitar.
[C#] _ _ The [G#] same chord, just changed a little bit in [C#] inversion.
Something else is in the bass.
And then I went ahead [Fm] and derived the melody from those four notes from [C#] this chord.
_ Here's the melody.
_ _ [F#] _ _
_ _ [D#] It has to be [C#m] simple [G#m] because one of the characteristics of any folk song is its simplicity.
It must be easily sung.
It must be able to pass down from generation to generation _ vocally and catchy as well.
[C#] _ _ _ Now I repeat it, but make it fresh with a new harmony.
[F#] _ _ _ And change that last note around a little bit.
[G#] Here it comes last time.
[C#] _ _ _
Now it's time for a fresh note in melody writing.
[D#m] Di da da dum, dum [D#] dum.
_ [G#] _ _
And then I took the idea of Deretone, so they say, as a little repeated _ [C#] refrain.
_ _ Dere, dere, dere, da, [F#] dere, dum, [C#] dere, [G#] dere, dum. _
And I do it again, except to make it more interesting, I offset it by [Fm] one beat. _
[C#] Dere, dere, [F#] dere, da, dere, dum, _ [G#] dere, dere, dere, dere.
[C#] _ _ _ _ _ [F#] _
_ _ [G#] _ _ _ _ That's my [N] song.
It is easily memorable.
It's got two parts.
And through the composition process, _ each one of those two parts is treated in canon,
in imitation with itself.
[D#] So someone goes, ya dum dum, someone else goes, ya dum.
Later on, dee da dee da dum, dee da dee [F#] da dum.
_ _ While that's going on, a tenor will be singing a counter melody, a separate melody,
but made out of that same material.
He goes, [C#m] dee [C#] da dum _ [C#] dum, dum dum.
[D#m] _ _ [G#] _ _
_ _ [C#] _ _ _ And later on in the piece, where the choir sings, _ _ _ [A#m] dee da, the tenor says, I know, I'm
going to play the first theme along with that. _
_ _ [F#] _ _ _ _ [C#] The melody, the harmony, all come from this chord. _
_ Then it's treated with what I hope is sort of elegant understatement.
_ [A#] And yet it retains its simplicity and charm as a simple little song.
I get emails from people saying, I love this song.
How do I get it out of my mind?
And I write them back and I say, there's no cure.
It was designed to go into your mind and never leave.
_ _ But this is where, for a composer, you focus on your idea.
I want [G#] to write a folk song.
What are the elements of a folk song?
_ _ How do I tie the poem into history?
How do I give it the flavor of the nationality _ _ of the language it's in?
_ And there you go.
That's just from this one.
Now imagine a piece having, such as in my midwinter songs, [D#] having four chords. _
_ It's a goldmine for a composer.
Every one of those chords will be explored.
All the facets of that particular passage will be explored compositionally.
And this is through learning and technique and an understanding of history and of craft.
And that's how Derry Tome came about. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _
[C#] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G#] _ _
_ _ _ [C#] _ _ [D#] _ _ _
[A#m] _ _ [G#] _ _ [D#m] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ [C#] _ _
_ [G#] _ _ _ [D#] _ _ _ _
[D#m] _ _ _ _ _ _ you
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[A#m] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ [C#] _ _ [D#] _ _ _ _